{"id":33551,"date":"2026-06-19T12:32:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=33551"},"modified":"2026-06-19T12:32:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:32:44","slug":"rivers-police-restrict-movement-ahead-of-by-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/19\/rivers-police-restrict-movement-ahead-of-by-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Rivers Police Restrict Movement Ahead of By\u2011Election"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AP)<\/strong> \u2014 Police in Rivers State have announced a sweeping restriction of movement across seven local government areas ahead of Saturday\u2019s senatorial by\u2011election in the South\u2011East District, citing security concerns and the need to ensure a peaceful vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rivers State Police Command said the order, which takes effect from midnight Friday until 6 p.m. Saturday, applies to Andoni, Tai, Khana, Gokana, Eleme, Oyigbo and Opobo\/Nkoro. The election will fill the seat left vacant after Senator Barry Mpigi\u2019s death in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Command spokesperson Blessing Agabe said the restrictions are part of \u201ccomprehensive security measures\u201d designed to protect voters, electoral officials and materials. Police warned that anyone caught violating the order, engaging in violence, vote\u2011buying, intimidation or other unlawful acts would face prosecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Commissioner of Police Olugbenga Adepoju urged political parties, candidates and residents to remain peaceful and law\u2011abiding. He stressed that accredited election officials, security personnel, emergency services and essential workers are exempt from the restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The measures reflect Nigeria\u2019s broader struggle to secure elections in regions where political competition is intense and violence has marred past polls. Analysts say the restrictions are intended to reassure voters and international observers that authorities are committed to delivering a credible process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Civil society groups welcomed the announcement but cautioned that enforcement must be even handed to avoid disenfranchising voters. The police command said robust arrangements are in place with other agencies to safeguard lives and property and urged residents to report suspicious activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AP) \u2014 Police in Rivers State have announced a sweeping restriction of movement across seven local government areas ahead of Saturday\u2019s senatorial by\u2011election in the South\u2011East District, citing security concerns and the need to ensure a peaceful vote. The Rivers State Police Command said the order, which takes effect from midnight Friday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":33552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2096,4,5],"tags":[19653,19656,19659,19658,19654,19652],"class_list":["post-33551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-featured","category-international","tag-barry-mpigi-vacant-senate-seat","tag-inec-election-security-nigeria","tag-june-20-2026-rivers-by-election-security","tag-nigeria-electoral-integrity-measures","tag-olugbenga-adepoju-commissioner-of-police","tag-rivers-south-east-senatorial-by-election"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG-20260218-WA0019.jpg?fit=1080%2C838&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33551"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33560,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33551\/revisions\/33560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}